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At the Throwback Throwdown, watch as pro snowboarders compete for a $17,000 prize purse and take on a two-fold challenge: competing in Breck’s 22-foot halfpipe and then a specially constructed 6-foot minipipe that is a replica of the first one built at Breck in 1985.

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Watch as pro snowboarders compete for a $17,000 prize purse and take on a two-fold challenge: competing in Breck’s 22-foot halfpipe and then a specially constructed 6-foot minipipe that is a replica of the first one built at Breck in 1985. Tricks no more than 540 degrees of rotation will be allowed, so each rider will have to get creative with straight airs, alley oops, huge slow spins and hand plants.

“The Throwback Throwdown was created to pay homage specifically to the history of snowboarding and the history of snowboarding at Breckenridge,” said Alysa Hetze, communications representative for Breckenridge Ski Resort. “This event debuted during our 50th anniversary season, which in itself was a huge historical marker for us.”

Since the first season Breckenridge allowed snowboarding, the resort has served as an integral piece in snowboarding’s progression, Hetze said.

“Being a two-fold event, we revisit where snowboarding started by creating a replica of our first hand-dug pipe and also utilize our world-renowned 22-foot pipe, showcasing where snowboarding is today,” she said.

The crowd-favorite competition takes place on the superpipe at the top of Freeway in the morning, and at the minipipe in lower Twister after lunch. Hetze said the event has been successful over the past three years because it attracts snowboard lovers of all generations.

“This event honors the legends who have paved the way for this great sport,” she said. “We also have top current athletes competing against the legends to make it fun and exciting.”

Breckenridge was the first major resort to allow snowboarding in the 1984-85 season, Hetz said, and also held the first Swatch World Snowboarding Championships in 1986.

“Next season, we will be celebrating 30 years of snowboarding at Breckenridge,” she said. “This is a special, unique event to honor our support for snowboarding.”